The only way the public is likely to be consulted on the changes to the European Union that are being made in response to the euro crisis, is if citizens force governments to hold referendums. This urgent battle for democracy must be won.

Odd to find oneself in even partial agreement with US ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P), one of the bodies which now determines government policy throughout most of the developed world, or at least has far greater influence on it than do the hapless voters.

I. The crisis of European imperialist integrationThe year 2011 (and as it seems today quite probably 2012 also) was marked by the crisis of one of the main international pillars of capitalism: the European Union (EU). What is usually described as a crisis of the Eurozone (strictly speaking the European Monetary Union – EMU) is in fact a crisis of the whole EU edifice system, of which EMU is its most avant-gardist structure.

Gabi Zimmer, president of the United Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament, together with Greek Left MEP Nikos Chountis presented the European Antifascist manifesto, which you can see below, this month in the European Parliament.
Gabi Zimmer said: "We are clearly witnessing a rise of the extreme right in Europe with more and more groups acting in an openly fascist manner. After 2014 we could see more openly fascist politicians in the European Parliament. We must prepare for the emergence of these political groupings. We need a broad alliance so we can get through to people and fight this extremely dangerous trend."

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We are a radical journal of the European Left and welcome contributions on the whole range of subjects covered in our pages. Take a look at the category descriptions to see what we are looking for. Aside from the obvious exclusion of racist, sexist or otherwise offensive materials, Spectrezine will not publish sectarian attacks by one section of the movement against corporate capitalism on another. We don't believe anyone has all the answers, and are open to all sections of the radical left. Please feel free to address any questions concerning Spectrezine to the editor.